Conservative leadership hopeful Stephen Harper was forced to apologize after a congratulatory letter bearing his signature was sent to an Ontario native organization. Unfortunately for Harper, his letter referred not to a native celebration, but to one in the Indian subcontinent.

"On the occasion of India's national day, I salute the Indian community for long-standing contributions to the economic and cultural vitality of our wonderful country," reads the letter, leaked to the media.

The mix-up prompted a sharp response from the president of the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres, Rick Lobzun.

"This is 2004, Mr. Harper, not 1492 - the last time a man got lost looking for India," he wrote in a letter dated Wednesday.

"Look what has happened to the aboriginal population ... since then."

In India, Republic Day is celebrated each Jan. 26 to mark the date when the country's constitution took effect, marking its independence from British rule.

The occasion is typically a time to celebrate the achievements of Mahatma Gandhi and other Indian nation-builders. There is no connection to First Nations peoples in Canada.

Silvia Maracle of the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres, told CTV's Canada AM on Friday that she found Harper's letter "laughable" at first, but her mood soon changed.

"As we got more upset and more concerned about the disrespect shown to us and the disrespect to others, we then thought, maybe this is why we don't get our issues answered, we're in the wrong database."

Maracle's suspicion turned out to be correct when Harper's office apologized for the mix-up, blaming it on a clerical error.

When confronted by reporters, Harper, too, was apologetic.

"It's a minor clerical error and to the extent there's any problem it's been apologized for," he said.

However, Maracle said Harper has made "no effort" to contact her organization to apologize directly.

NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis said the letter is just another example of why Harper is not fit to lead government.

"He's not prime ministerial material and he's got to show a better understanding," she said.

For Maracle and others among Canada's aboriginal population, the gaffe has again raised the spectre of doubt once cast by the former Canadian Alliance Party.

Maracle told Canada AM the letter represents "the tip of the iceberg about our relationship with what was the Reform Party and what now will be the Conservative Party."

The Reform Party, renamed the Canadian Alliance and led by Harper before its merger with the Progressive Conservative Party in December, has historically had a tense relationship with First Nations communities.

It opposed the Nisga'a land claim treaty in British Columbia and argued against "race-based" treaty privileges for aboriginal people.

John Cummins, an Alliance MP from B.C., took part in a 2002 protest against a natives-only salmon fishery on the Fraser River.

However, the Alliance refused to let controversial Saskatchewan MP Jim Pankiw rejoin its caucus in 2002. Pankiw once said a disproportionate number of Indians are in jail because they commit a disproportionate amount of crime.

With the new Conservative Party edging up in the polls, thanks to Canadians' anger over the federal sponsorship scandal, the Opposition is under even greater scrutiny.

Anticipating the spotlight, Harper leadership rival Belinda Stronach has admitted her lack of knowledge on the subject.

"I'm interested in Native issues," the Conservative candidate told reporters. "I don't claim to be an expert, but I want to learn."

The Conservative got some more unwelcome publicity Thursday for a radio attack ad against the Martin Liberals. The ad uses a voice with a Caribbean accent who touts the tax breaks that Canada Steamship Lines - Martin's former shipping company, now owned by his sons - enjoy by sailing under the flag of Barbados.

Some claimed the ad was insulting to Barbadians, but acting Conservative leader Grant Hill wasn't apologetic.

"There is a group of Canadians that should be insulted, and those are the individuals that have paid the taxes that our prime minister has managed to (avoid) offshore ...," he told The Canadian Press.